Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Comic-Con it every dang day

Tijuana's Friki Zone, where nerds can say they're nervous

Just another day in the Friki Zone
Just another day in the Friki Zone

“Whoa, they have the Link Amiibo. I can’t find them anywhere in L.A. I’m getting one for my lil’ brother.”

Entrance to the plaza

I was touring my friend Gabe through Tijuana when he got excited and we stopped at a store. Gabe was amazed at the offerings in the Plaza de la Tecnologia, Plaza de la Mujer, and Friki Zone. The Nintendo figurine was four dollars more expensive than they usually sell for in the U.S., but it was worth it for Gabe because he had been looking for one.

I walk through the plaza on a regular basis as an entertaining shortcut. It takes me away from the usual bustle of downtown Tijuana, through a passageway of nerdy magic. High school me would have loved this place.

Sponsored
Sponsored

To give you an idea of the place, I recorded a video walk-through with my iPad. Halfway through filming, a security guard told me that it was the company's policy to not let people record. The guard instructed me to ask permission in the administration office on the second floor, where I spoke with Miguel Angel Garcia, the general manager of the three plazas.

"This used to be Dorian’s,” said Garcia. “We have been around for, like, three years, I am not sure of the exact date we opened.” Dorian's was a furniture store that opened in Tijuana in 1959, spread through Mexico, eventually became a Sears, and finally closed its doors in downtown in May 2009.

"There are 570 shops combined in the three plazas," said Garcia. "We have 37 plazas in 17 different states. Not all of them have all three plazas or they are not fully connected. But usually if there is a Plaza de la Tecnologia, there is a Plaza de la Mujer nearby. The Friki Zone is often connected to Tecnologia, but not all of them have that area." Garcia radioed the security guards to let them know it was okay for me to continue recording.

Plenty of toys, kids and men-children!

I usually enter the plaza through the back end. The floor-mat welcomes you to the Friki Zone, a place to find video games, comics, cards, anime, and more. The ceiling has Japanese characters written in black-and-white. On either side there are tiny shops that sell video games and tech gadgets.

After a handful of stores, tables are set up in the middle of the hallway painted with anime characters. People young and old (men-children), gather to play cards —mostly Yu-Gi-Oh! (My nerd-self only plays Magic.) By the tables, there's an arcade and similar stores where you can rent Playstation 4 and Xbox One by the hour. There is also an air-hockey table, Dance Dance Revolution, and a couple of pool tables. Stores across the arcade area get more interesting, selling anime, comics, figurines, trading cards, and board games.

In the middle of the hallway, the three plazas converge. Escalators in front of a McDonald's ice cream stand lead to the second level where the administration offices are, more shops similar to the ones downstairs, and a kids' area resembling a fast-food playground.

On the cosplay catwalk

The hallway that cuts perpendicular is Plaza de la Mujer. I've only walked through there a couple of times. Beauty salons, manis/pedis, shoe and clothing stores, your typical mall. I usually walk straight through Plaza de la Tecnologia. Shop after shop offers selfie-sticks, cables, chargers, laptops, cell-phone covers, gadgets, and electronic repairs. There are also a couple of stores that sell glass pipes and stoner artifacts and a few piercing/tattoo parlors.

The plaza also hosts events, like battle of the banda, cosplay contests, and video-game tournaments. On this particular Saturday there were contests for drawing, karaoke, Just Dance, and cosplay. I stayed for a while during the cosplay catwalk. The judges took several minutes with each contestant, asking them pointless questions, like, “How are you feeling right now?" Most of them said they were fine but nervous.

Video:

In the Friki Zone

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

Live Five: Andrew Peña, Frankie J, Beat Farmers, Jesse LaMonaca, Puddles Pity Party

Latin, roots rock, and pity parties in Mission Beach, Little Italy, El Cajon
Just another day in the Friki Zone
Just another day in the Friki Zone

“Whoa, they have the Link Amiibo. I can’t find them anywhere in L.A. I’m getting one for my lil’ brother.”

Entrance to the plaza

I was touring my friend Gabe through Tijuana when he got excited and we stopped at a store. Gabe was amazed at the offerings in the Plaza de la Tecnologia, Plaza de la Mujer, and Friki Zone. The Nintendo figurine was four dollars more expensive than they usually sell for in the U.S., but it was worth it for Gabe because he had been looking for one.

I walk through the plaza on a regular basis as an entertaining shortcut. It takes me away from the usual bustle of downtown Tijuana, through a passageway of nerdy magic. High school me would have loved this place.

Sponsored
Sponsored

To give you an idea of the place, I recorded a video walk-through with my iPad. Halfway through filming, a security guard told me that it was the company's policy to not let people record. The guard instructed me to ask permission in the administration office on the second floor, where I spoke with Miguel Angel Garcia, the general manager of the three plazas.

"This used to be Dorian’s,” said Garcia. “We have been around for, like, three years, I am not sure of the exact date we opened.” Dorian's was a furniture store that opened in Tijuana in 1959, spread through Mexico, eventually became a Sears, and finally closed its doors in downtown in May 2009.

"There are 570 shops combined in the three plazas," said Garcia. "We have 37 plazas in 17 different states. Not all of them have all three plazas or they are not fully connected. But usually if there is a Plaza de la Tecnologia, there is a Plaza de la Mujer nearby. The Friki Zone is often connected to Tecnologia, but not all of them have that area." Garcia radioed the security guards to let them know it was okay for me to continue recording.

Plenty of toys, kids and men-children!

I usually enter the plaza through the back end. The floor-mat welcomes you to the Friki Zone, a place to find video games, comics, cards, anime, and more. The ceiling has Japanese characters written in black-and-white. On either side there are tiny shops that sell video games and tech gadgets.

After a handful of stores, tables are set up in the middle of the hallway painted with anime characters. People young and old (men-children), gather to play cards —mostly Yu-Gi-Oh! (My nerd-self only plays Magic.) By the tables, there's an arcade and similar stores where you can rent Playstation 4 and Xbox One by the hour. There is also an air-hockey table, Dance Dance Revolution, and a couple of pool tables. Stores across the arcade area get more interesting, selling anime, comics, figurines, trading cards, and board games.

In the middle of the hallway, the three plazas converge. Escalators in front of a McDonald's ice cream stand lead to the second level where the administration offices are, more shops similar to the ones downstairs, and a kids' area resembling a fast-food playground.

On the cosplay catwalk

The hallway that cuts perpendicular is Plaza de la Mujer. I've only walked through there a couple of times. Beauty salons, manis/pedis, shoe and clothing stores, your typical mall. I usually walk straight through Plaza de la Tecnologia. Shop after shop offers selfie-sticks, cables, chargers, laptops, cell-phone covers, gadgets, and electronic repairs. There are also a couple of stores that sell glass pipes and stoner artifacts and a few piercing/tattoo parlors.

The plaza also hosts events, like battle of the banda, cosplay contests, and video-game tournaments. On this particular Saturday there were contests for drawing, karaoke, Just Dance, and cosplay. I stayed for a while during the cosplay catwalk. The judges took several minutes with each contestant, asking them pointless questions, like, “How are you feeling right now?" Most of them said they were fine but nervous.

Video:

In the Friki Zone

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Bob Long played piano for Tina Turner and Ray Charles

And he got the crowd shaking at InZane Brewery
Next Article

How to make a hit Christmas song

Feeling is key, but money helps too
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader